Max Verstappen’s high risk of incurring a ban will make him more likely to take risks when fighting his rivals, not less, George Russell believes.
The pair will share the front row of the grid for today’s Canadian Grand Prix. Verstappen is racing under the threat of incurring an automatic one-race ban if he collects another penalty point on his licence, after he made contact with Russell at the last round in Spain.Verstappen has said the threat of a ban will not lead him to be more cautious when fighting his rivals for position. Russell thinks it is likely to have the opposite effect on his rival.
“I don’t think any driver goes out looking to crash into somebody and get penalty points on your licence,” said Russell during yesterday’s press conference after qualifying.
“So I’ll be keeping an eye [out], but ultimately, we’re all here to win. You’re not going to do something that’s going to jeopardise yourself from the race.”
Russell also believes the impact of a race ban is less significant for a driver due to the length of the modern grand prix calendar.
“It’s a busy season as well,” he said. “If you get a race ban, you get a race ban and spend some time at home. It’s not ideal, but it’s not the end of the world.”
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Oscar Piastri, who will start third behind the pair, said he’s “not going to race any differently” with Verstappen. “I’m not going to take any less risk, any more risk,” he said. “I’m certainly not going to do anything different. I’ll race as I always race.”
Penalty points before Canadian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
| Date | Event | Session | Infringement | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30/6/2024 | Austrian Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘Collision between Car 1 and Car 4 in turn 3.’ | 2 |
| 27/10/2024 | Mexican Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘Forcing another driver off the track.’ | 2 |
| 2/11/2024 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Sprint race | ‘The driver was above the minimum time at VSC End.’ | 1 |
| 1/12/2024 | Qatar Grand Prix | Qualifying | ‘Car 1 drove unnecessarily slowly on a cool down lap.’ | 1 |
| 8/12/2024 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘Car 1 caused a collision with Car 81 in turn 1.’ | 2 |
| 1/6/2025 | Spanish Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘Car 1 collided with Car 63 at turn 5.’ | 3 |
George Russell
| Date | Event | Session | Infringement | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/12/2024 | Qatar Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘The driver of Car 63 failed to maintain a 10 car-length distance behind the Safety’ | 1 |
Oscar Piastri
| Date | Event | Session | Infringement | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/11/2024 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘Causing a collision with car 30 in turn 1.’ | 2 |
| 8/12/2024 | Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Grand prix | ‘Car 81 caused a collision with Car 43 before turn 6.’ | 2 |
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2025 Canadian Grand Prix
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Yes (@come-on-kubica)
15th June 2025, 12:43
If this results in verstappen in getting a ban or making him race less aggressively and results in him winning will be nothing work of top level Russell mind games.
Genghis Blond
15th June 2025, 17:55
I’d like to see RF talking about Kubica not only winning the overall 24 Hours of Le Mans, but doing it in a privateer Ferrari. The first time that’s ever been done.
MichaelN
15th June 2025, 13:25
The stewards felt confident enough to give penalty points to Magnussen, who was already dropped from Haas and in the final moments of his F1 career. But they moved heaven and earth to avoid giving penalty points to Gasly – of all people – so the chance of them giving a penalty point to Verstappen must be considered incredibly small.
Or not. We don’t know, and that just goes to show how badly this system has been used. It’s good in theory to have a bit of a thread that connects smaller incidents, but when the stewards seem to be awarding penalty points with very little consistency – both in amounts and in similar incidents – it just becomes rather silly. One more lever the pull to keep the show going, I guess.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
15th June 2025, 13:50
System works fine. Consistency is meaningless as no two events are exactly alike but its certainly something fans of all sports and pundits call out for. Its nothing but lazy opinion.
I think, my own opinion, Max got away lightly but he still got 3 points and he is still 1 infringement away from a deserved ban. System works fine
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th June 2025, 14:49
They will be reading the whole rule book in depth to find any mitigating circumstance to not give a ban, and if they find anything they’ll give that as a reason!
An Sionnach
15th June 2025, 15:35
Let’s see. You’re right about Gasly. He deserved a ban for not taking responsibility for infringements he made himself.
I expect they will put anything involving Max under a microscope and people will be unhappy no matter what they decide. My guess is that they will penalise him if he deserves it and won’t if he doesn’t. What penalty points get awarded, if anything, is another thing entirely.
Sw
15th June 2025, 13:35
Anyone actually think that he wants the ban, time off over the summer with his family and new born
DaveW (@dmw)
15th June 2025, 14:10
It’s a busy season as well,” he said. “If you get a race ban, you get a race ban and spend some time at home. It’s not ideal, but it’s not the end of the world.”
Masterful mind games. Russell is just daring Max to get the ban.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
15th June 2025, 14:50
Don’t think russell has anything to gain from verstappen being banned, they’re not fighting each other for the championship.
anon
15th June 2025, 16:04
@esploratore1 Russell is not that far behind Verstappen in the championship (137 points versus 111), and Red Bull is not that far behind Mercedes in the WCC (144 points to 159).
In reality, every other team and driver in the field other than Red Bull would likely benefit from Verstappen being banned for a race. Both McLaren drivers can pull an even larger gap over their nearest rival, Mercedes and Ferrari have a potential podium contender out of the way and can pull away from Red Bull in the WCC, whilst the midfield teams would likely benefit from an uncompetitive Red Bull opening up another potential points scoring position.
F180 (@f180)
15th June 2025, 20:58
Funny how all goes to beat Max. They should form a support group with daily meetings, yoga classes, mindfulness exercises, walks, group therapy. Who play mind games here? Russell or Max?